1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink fountain apparatus for a printing press, and more particularly to an ink fountain apparatus provided a mechanism for adjusting the degree of opening of of supplying port in which an end cam is utilized to move an ink supply adjusting member toward and away from an ink fountain roller for adjustment.
2. Description of Related Art
In an ink fountain for an ink supply apparatus for a printing press, ink is stored in an elongated space having a V-shaped cross section which is formed by the peripheral surface of an ink fountain roller, an ink supply adjusting member having a forward edge located proximity to the peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller, and a pair of side plates disposed at both lateral ends of the ink supply adjusting member. When the ink fountain roller is rotated, the ink stored in the elongated space is withdrawn through a gap between the peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller and the forward edge of the ink supply adjusting member.
To control the supply of ink, the degree of opening of the ink supplying port, i.e., the gap between the peripheral surface of the ink fountain roller and the forward edge of the ink supply adjusting member is adjusted by advancing and retracting the ink supply adjusting member.
Japanese Utility-Model Publication (kokoku) 4-15493 discloses an example of such a conventional ink fountain apparatus with an adjustable ink supply outlet.
In the ink fountain apparatus disclosed in that publication, an ink supply adjusting member is divided into a plurality of segmented members, and the segmented members are arranged in a row extending parallel to the axis of the ink fountain roller. Each ink supply adjusting segmented member is individually linearly displaced by interaction of a rotary plate cam and a compression spring. The rotational axis of the rotary plate cam is perpendicular to the direction of linear displacement of the ink supply adjusting segmented member. Also, the rotational axis of the drive/transmission mechanism for rotating the plate cam is perpendicular to the direction of linear movement of the ink supply adjusting segmented member.
In the above-described conventional ink fountain apparatus, the rotational axis of the rotary plate cam, which serves as a means for linearly displacing the ink supply adjusting segmented member, and the rotational axis of the drive/transmission mechanism are both perpendicular to the direction of linear movement of the ink supply adjusting segmented member. Also, the rotary plate cam and the drive/transmission mechanism are provided at the rear side of each ink supply adjusting segmented member.
Accordingly, the rotary plate cam, serving as a means for linearly displacing each ink supply adjusting segment, and the drive/transmission mechanism project from the rear end of the ink fountain, resulting in an increase in the total size of the ink fountain apparatus. This makes it difficult to reduce the size of the apparatus and the required installation space.